Final answer:
James Madison originally had nineteen proposed amendments but revised them down to twelve, which were sent to Congress. After the ratification process, ten of these became the Bill of Rights. The correct answer is option c.
Step-by-step explanation:
James Madison initially drafted nineteen proposed amendments. After reviewing all the proposed amendments, Madison decided to submit twelve to Congress. These were then sent to the states for ratification. In the end, only ten of these amendments were ratified by the states and became known as the Bill of Rights.
It is noteworthy that Madison's original nineteen proposed amendments were consolidated and refined through debates in the Congress, leading to twelve amendments being proposed for ratification. Historian Gordon Wood pointed out that two specific amendments - one on congressional appropriation and one on congressional salaries - were not ratified in the initial process. Subsequently, the ten amendments that successfully garnered support became the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Thus, the correct answer to the student's question is C17, indicating that Madison originally proposed seventeen amendments if we account for the additional amendments that were consolidated during the process.